easyJet’s New Loyalty Programme vs BA Euro Traveller 2026

Summer 2026 peak travel is here. The short-haul battleground has completely shifted.

On 27 May 2026, British Airways quietly raised the minimum cash required for Avios reward flights, effectively killing the virtually free European weekender. Right on cue, easyJet formalised its loyalty offering, ditching the opaque Flight Club for a structured, points-based programme. It leaves a lot of us staring at our American Express balances wondering if BA Euro Traveller is still worth the hassle, or if it is finally time to jump ship to orange.

The reality of the May 2026 British Airways fee hikes

British Airways increased the cash element required for short-haul Avios Reward Flight Savers on 27 May 2026. This single change altered the math for anyone flying out of London to Europe this year.

How the Reward Flight Saver changes hit your wallet

The ultra-low £1 plus maximum Avios option has been heavily restricted. British Airways pushed the baseline cash requirement closer to £25 to £35 per leg for Zone 1 to 3 European flights. For a solo traveller taking a quick trip to Amsterdam, an extra £50 return might barely register. For a family of four heading to Malaga, you are now looking at nearly £280 in pure cash fees before you even factor in the Avios required.

Honestly, I am not convinced the math works for most people on standard economy redemptions anymore. That £280 cash element alone is often enough to buy four cash tickets on a budget carrier if you book far enough in advance. The headline Reward Flight Saver is simply no longer a saver.

Earning Avios on revenue fares

When you do pay cash for BA Euro Traveller flights, the earning side remains strictly revenue-based. Blue members earn 6 Avios per £1 spent, while Gold members earn 9 Avios per £1. Keep in mind this multiplier only applies to the base fare and carrier surcharges. Government taxes earn you absolutely nothing. If you buy a £150 return ticket to Berlin, the actual qualifying spend might only be £80, leaving a Blue member with a paltry 480 Avios for the trip.

How easyJet’s new points programme actually works

Under easyJet’s newly structured loyalty programme, members earn a fixed return on spend, mirroring the broader airline industry shift toward revenue-based loyalty.

The 10 points per pound earning structure

The earning mechanics are incredibly straightforward. You earn 10 easyJet points per £1 spent on fares and ancillaries like seat selection and extra baggage. If you spend £200 on a return flight to Faro and add a £50 checked bag, you earn 2,500 points. There are no complex routing rules or fare class multipliers to memorize. You spend money, you get points.

The fixed-value redemption trap

The part I keep coming back to is how you spend those points. easyJet points operate on a strict fixed-value redemption model of approximately 0.5p per point. This means a £100 flight will always cost exactly 20,000 points.

This creates a massive ceiling on value. Because the points are tied directly to cash fares, you can never beat the system. If a flight to Ibiza in August costs £400, it will cost a massive 80,000 points. BA Avios, despite the recent fee hikes, still operate on a fixed-chart basis. A peak BA flight to Ibiza caps the points required, which is how savvy flyers extract outsized value during school holidays.

The American Express transfer problem

British Airways retains its 1:1 transfer partnership with American Express Membership Rewards. easyJet’s new programme currently lacks a direct UK credit card transfer partner, heavily limiting off-seat earning.

Why British Airways still dominates the credit card game

This is the biggest structural weakness of the easyJet proposition for Points Uncovered readers. You can only earn easyJet points by flying or using specific portal partners. You cannot sweep 50,000 points from your everyday supermarket and fuel spending into an easyJet account to fund a summer holiday.

British Airways is deeply integrated into UK daily life via Amex. When you combine the BA Amex cards with the standard Membership Rewards cards, Avios flow effortlessly into your Executive Club account without you having to step onto a plane.

Maximising the 2026 Amex sign-up bonuses

American Express is aggressively pushing user acquisition this summer. They are currently offering up to 100,000 MR points on Platinum cards, alongside a 90,000-point ‘Invite a Friend’ promo running until 21 July 2026. Because these MR points transfer instantly to BA Avios but not easyJet, readers face a dilemma. My advice is to save your massive Amex bonuses for long-haul Club World redemptions or short-haul Club Europe, where the May 2026 tax hikes are easier to swallow against high cash fares.

Baggage and lounge access comparisons

Both airlines now operate nearly identical basic economy propositions. Your experience at the airport relies entirely on your elite status or what you are willing to pay out of pocket.

The basic economy baseline

BA Euro Traveller Basic allows a cabin bag and an under-seat bag. easyJet standard fares only allow an under-seat bag. To bring a proper cabin bag on easyJet, you must pay for Up Front or Extra Legroom seating, or hold easyJet Plus or elite status. If you are comparing a £50 BA Basic fare against a £40 easyJet standard fare, BA is actually cheaper once you factor in the £20 easyJet cabin bag fee.

The Gatwick lounge workaround

British Airways Silver and Gold members get free European lounge access, which takes the sting out of Gatwick delays. A non-status easyJet flyer must pay £30 to £40 out of pocket for UK independent lounges.

If you are flying easyJet out of Gatwick North, do not chase their newly tiered elite perks just for lounge access. The status match illusion is real, and easyJet will not match your BA Silver card. Instead, rely on your Amex Platinum Priority Pass for the No1 Lounge or Clubrooms. You effectively replicate BA Silver status on a low-cost carrier without having to grind out the flights.

Which airline offers better value for peak summer travel

easyJet cash fares are frequently cheaper, but their points offer zero leverage. British Airways Avios offer outsized value during peak times if you can find the elusive availability 355 days out.

School holiday pricing dynamics

If you are booking late for August, easyJet cash fares will be brutal, and easyJet points will be useless because of the 0.5p fixed value. BA cash fares will also be brutal, but this is where Avios shine. Even with the new £35 per leg fees, spending 20,000 Avios plus £70 for a return flight that costs £450 in cash yields nearly 2p per Avios. That is an excellent return. The challenge is actually securing those BA reward seats before other parents snap them up.

The BA Holidays companion voucher pivot

As of mid-2026, BA Amex Companion Vouchers can now be applied to British Airways Holidays bookings. This is a massive shift. Stop using your 2-for-1 vouchers on standalone Euro Traveller flights where the new taxes kill the value. Instead, use the new 2026 rule to apply them to a European city break package. You secure your flights and hotel together at a much better redemption rate, completely sidestepping the worst of the May 2026 fee hikes.

Practical strategies for European flights in 2026

Here is exactly how you should handle short-haul bookings for the rest of the year.

• Pivot your BA Amex Companion Vouchers to BA Holidays rather than standalone short-haul flights to dilute the impact of the new cash fees.
• Use easyJet for cash bookings to build up their native points, but save your Amex MR points and transfer them to Avios exclusively for long-haul or Club Europe.
• Always do the pence-per-Avios math before booking a BA Euro Traveller reward flight. Subtract the new RFS cash fee from the current cash price of the flight, and divide by the Avios required. If it is under 1p per Avios, pay cash on easyJet instead.
• Leverage your Amex Platinum Priority Pass at Gatwick to get lounge access when flying easyJet, ignoring their native status track.

The honest verdict on 2026 short-haul

British Airways made their short-haul product significantly worse for points collectors in May 2026. The days of flying to Europe for £1 and a handful of Avios are gone. However, easyJet’s new loyalty programme, while a massive improvement over the old Flight Club, is too rigid to be a true replacement. The lack of an Amex transfer partner and the strict 0.5p fixed value mean you can never win big.

In my experience, the smart play for 2026 is a hybrid approach. Keep earning Avios through your daily UK credit card spend, but reserve them strictly for long-haul flights, Club Europe, or BA Holidays packages. For standard European weekenders, treat easyJet as your default cash option. Earn their 10 points per pound, take the 5% rebate on future flights, and enjoy the savings.

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